Wind up the Barclays clockwork robot
by Martin Belam, 14 March 2009
We are quite used to 'amusing' failure messages on the web. The Twitter 'Fail Whale' has become a meme in itself, and we are also familiar with characters like the Bloglines plumber.
The other day I spotted this online trend escaping from the virtual into the real world.
Apparently, if you can't get money out of a Barclays ATM in the UK, it isn't because our banking system has broken, but because their clockwork fifties sci-fi b-movie robot has ground to a halt.
The use of the term 'Hole in the Wall' also merits method. Unbelievably they've trademarked it - not sure whether that has any implications for the BBC1 show of the same name - it certainly would for ITV's pitiful "The Colour of Money" cash machines...
Charlie Brooker covered the rebranding as only he could in this Guardian piece about Barclays' Money Circus.
Finally, whilst googling all this, I can across a page on qype.co.uk where someone has actually reviewed a cash machine...